Who's Reading?

A national poll conducted in August suggests that the average American only read four books in the past year. One in four adults admitted to reading no books at all. Most people blame this on two factors: they are working more, leaving less time for leisure reading; and shiny new technology - the Internet, TiVo's, cell phones, video games - is pulling younger Americans away from musty old books. If more and more people are surfing the net instead of picking up a novel, should we care?

Librarians think Americans are not reading less, but reading differently. What are they reading? Despite Americans' slackening reading habits, some 300,000 books hit the market every year. Book sales remain flat, however. And the nature of what's being published is changing. Large publishers increasingly favor nonfiction over fiction, because nonfiction sells better to both men and women. An Associated Press survey found that more women than men read every major category of books except history and biography. Genre fiction, sci-fi, romance, mysteries - has sustained its popularity more than general literature, which is becoming the province of women readers. Only about one-third of American men now read literary novels, short stories or poetry.

As people find themselves busier and busier, they seem to want quick reading - something that is a lot shorter that they can pick up and put down, pick up and put down. Some observers believe this new millennium's fast-paced culture makes it harder for overstimulated readers to slow down long enough to digest an entire book. Surveys show that older people are most likely to read books as are children and young adolescents. The rate of decline in literary reading is the steepest among teenagers and twentysomethings. Artful comic books (graphic novels) are exploding in popularity among this group.

So, Americans are reading differently and whether they read a book or a computer screen - they are still reading. Hopefully, there will always be those readers who want to slow down, unplug and engage with a good book. As library staff we only know those of you who love to read and probably read four books a month or more. The pollsters should have taken their poll at the library door. I think their numbers would have reflected a little differently.

Susan

Adapted from an article from the Salt Lake Tribune "Written off" by Brandon Griggs